EDITORIAL

Abstract

In its constant flow, scientific knowledge resembles a river that crosses territories, overflows disciplinary boundaries, and nourishes the fertile fields of social thought. As Girola Molina (2019) points out, it is an “ever-moving flow” whose dynamics transform both those who produce it and those who receive it.

This eighth issue of Territorios y Regionalismos magazine brings together significant contributions that, from different perspectives, contribute to a critical understanding of the territorial, political, and social processes that shape our regional realities.

We open with an analysis of the strengthening of regional governments in Chile, a proposal aimed at redesigning the institutional framework that articulates the various actors in the territory. This line of research is intertwined with a second study that, using a qualitative methodology, investigates the perceptions of biomedical professionals regarding the impact of decentralization on gender equality in the field of health.

In the Colombian context, another article examines the regulatory evolution of decentralization as a structuring model of the state. Based on a legal and historical review, it outlines how this transformation has sought to respond to social imbalances, institutional inefficiencies, and growing demands for local autonomy.

The thematic scope is broadened with a study on the circular economy, which proposes a profound reconfiguration of production models towards sustainable and inclusive systems. Through an approach applied to small and medium-sized enterprises, opportunities are highlighted for promoting innovation, social cohesion, and ecosystem regeneration, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

From a historiographical perspective, another article questions the traditional criteria for political and administrative division in Chile. Based on a review of regional historiography, it proposes a territorial configuration more in line with the country's historical, cultural, and geographical dynamics.

At the crossroads between literature and politics, an analysis of the work of Chilean writer and politician Joaquín Díaz Garcés is presented. His narrative, influenced by naturalism, reveals social and territorial tensions characteristic of 20th-century Chile, projecting a discourse where identity and geographical space are intertwined in a symbolic cartography of power.

This issue closes with a prose reflection that invites us to reconsider the ways in which intellectual thought takes root in territories, offering keys to thinking about knowledge not as accumulation, but as a situated, open process committed to social transformation.

Thus, this issue flows like a tributary with multiple sources, consolidating the journal as a space of convergence between disciplines, regions, and subjects. A river of knowledge that, as it flows through new channels, continues to fertilize the banks of critical thinking and commitment to territories.

We extend an invitation to researchers interested in territorial studies, regional political dynamics, and the challenges of local government to add their voices to this editorial space. The journal aims to be a pluralistic, rigorous platform committed to situated thinking and social transformation.

Similarly, we invite our readers to immerse themselves in the articles gathered here, not only as consumers of information, but as active interlocutors, capable of challenging, questioning, and enriching the scientific debate from their own contexts and experiences.

Llaudett Natividad Escalona-Márquez[1]

Co-Editor

Territories and Regionalisms Magazine

[1] PhD candidate in Higher Education. Master's degree in Higher Education. Specialist in Virtual Learning Environments. Bachelor's degree in Education. ORCID. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8682-2870 Email: llescalona@udec.cl